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Jn Memoriam 


SUSAN M. (PAGE) CURRIER 


1838 - 1910 


‘* Fold her, O Father! in Thine arms 
And let her henceforth be 
A messenger of love between 
Our human hearts and Thee.” 


NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 
1912 





PRINTED BY 
NEWCOMB & GAUSS, 
SALEM, MASS, 


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SUSAN M. (PAGE) CURRIER. 


SusAN MAria Paab, eldest daughter of David Perkins 
and Susan Maria (Lunt) Page, was born July 15, 1838, 
in that part of Newbury, Mass., which is now included 
within the limits of the city of Newburyport. Her 
mother, a lineal descendant of one of the early settlers of 
Newbury, was the daughter of Capt. Micajah and Sarah 
(Giddings) Lunt, and her father, born in Epping, N. H., 
July 4, 1810, was the youngest son of Nathan and Sarah 
(Perkins) Page. 

When only eighteen or nineteen years of age, young 
Page came to Newbury and, during the winter months, 
taught a district school at Byfield and afterwards a private 
school on Green street in Newburyport. In March, 1832, 
he was principal of the English department of the New- 
buryport high school; and in December of that year 
married Susan Maria Lunt. 

At that date John G. Whittier was a strong and vig- 
orous supporter of the anti-slavery cause and deeply 
interested in the organization and development of the 
Liberty party. In 1844, he was editor of the “ Middlesex 
Standard,” a newspaper published in Lowell, Mass. 
While residing in that city Whittier wrote and sent by 
the hand of a mutual friend, Mr. B. F. 8. Griffin, the 


5 


6 


following letter, addressed to “David P. Page, Hsq., 
Newbury ” :— 


LowELL, 29th, 8th mo., 1844. 
Dear Friend : 

The period being near at hand for nominating a Liberty 
candidate for Congress in this District I take the liberty 
to enquire of thee whether, in case thy name should be 
presented to the electors of a convention, thee would feel 
under the necessity of declining to allow us the use of it. 
No person in the District would obtain so large a vote as 
thyself ; there is no one who could so certainly unite the 
votes of all who are dissatisfied with the pro-slavery 
position of the Whig and Democratic parties. 

I do sincerely hope thee will be willing to permit thy 
name to be presented to the public. We can give thee 
2,000 votes. We have two Liberty papers now in the 
District ; we are well organized and only need such a 
candidate as thyself to ensure our ultimate triumph. For 
the slave’s sake, for the sake of the great principles of 
Liberty, let me beg of thee not to decide hastily against 
us. This letter will be handed thee by our friend Griffin, 
who will be able to give thee all the information needed 
in reference to this request. 

Very lel thy friend, 
J. G. WHITTIER. 


Replying to this urgent appeal for the use of his name, 
Mr. Page wrote as follows :— 


NEWBURY, Sept. 9th, 1844. 

Dear Sir, 

Your favor of the 29th ult. gave me no little surprise. 
I have only time to say in reply to the proposition it 
contains that 1 cannot for one moment consent that such use 
should be made of my name as you propose. 

T have been in the habit of considering my profession 
the highest in which, with present qualifications, I could 


7 


engage ; and while I continue in it, my mind must never 
be distracted by the strife of a political canvass. For the 
present, therefore, I cannot consent to take a more prom- 
inent place than is implied in the exercise of my right of 
suffrage. 

Please accept my thanks for the numbers of your paper 
you have been pleased to send me ; and also be assured of 
my personal regard for yourself and my high esteem for 
the motives by which you are actuated. 

Your friend, 
D. P. Paar. 


At that date, Mr. Page owned the dwelling house, in 
which he resided, on the southwesterly side of High 
street, near the head of Lime street, in the town of New- 
bury, Mass.' In November, 1844, he accepted an invita- 
tion to take charge of the State Normal school at Albany, 
N. Y., and in the month of December following removed, 
with his family, to that city, where he remained until his 
death, January 1, 1848. 

His widow, with two sons and two daughters,—David 
P. Page, jr., born August 13, 1836; Susan Maria Page, 
born July 15, 1838; Mary Lunt Page, born September 22, 
1842 ; and Henry Titcomb Page, born January 30, 1846, 
—returned to Newbury and resumed housekeeping, living 
in the old house near the head of Lime street until 1852, 
when she decided to remove to Thetford, Vt., where a 
matried sister resided and her children could be educated 
at the private academy in that town. 

In 1858, her oldest son, David P. Page, jr., anxions to 
prepare himself for a seafaring life, sought and obtained 
permission to sail in the ship Castillian on a voyage from 


1“ Ould Newbury: Historical and Biographical Sketches, page 
138. = 


8 


New York to San Francisco, thence to the Chincha islands, 
and then, with a cargo of guano, toa port of discharge 
on the continent of Europe. Three or four years later 
Mrs. Page found her residence in Vermont somewhat 
inconvenient and returned with her children to her old 
home in Newbury, which, in the meantime, had been an- 
nexed to, and made a part of, the city of Newburyport. 

At the beginning of the Civil war, David P. Page, jr., 
was an experienced sea-captain in command of the ship 
Inez. In December, 1863, he was appointed acting ensign 
in the naval service of the United States and later was 
acting master of the Wateree on her voyage from New 
York, around Cape Horn, to the Pacific coast. He mar- 
ried, December 5, 1867, Emily Caroline, daughter of 
Rufus and Caroline (Perkins) Wills, and for several 
years after that date was captain of the merchant ship 
Josiah L. Hale, engaged in the East India trade. He 
died in Newburyport January 23, 1874, leaving a widow 
and two sons, David P. and Rufus W. Page. 

Mary Lunt Page married, November 13, 1866, William 
S. Coffin. She died January 13, 1879, leaving a husband, 
one daughter, Susan Maria Coffin, who married George 
H. Anderson June 9, 1893, and three sons, William Page 
Coffin, who died June 7, 1891, Henry Fitch Coffin, who 
died August 19, 1891, and David Page Coffin, who is still 
living. 

Henry Titcomb Page, with an inherited love of the sea, 
decided to leave school at a very early age and begin life 
as an ordinary seaman. After several voyages to Europe 
and the East Indies in a merchant ship, when only fifteen 
or sixteen years old, he entered the United States naval 
service in 1863 and was acting ensign on board the Flor- 


2 

ida, the Peterhoff and the Mohican during the Civil war, 
and subsequently became part owner and manufacturing 
agent of the Wheelwright Paper Company in Fitchburg, 
Mass. June 23, 1869, he married Margaret Allen, 
daughter of William H. and Mary (Allen) Brewster of 
Newburyport, and died in Fitchburg September 23, 1911, 
leaving a widow and one son, William Brewster Page, 
who married, December 10, 1902, Mary Hayes Huse, 
daughter of William H. and Laura A. Huse. 


Susan Maria Page, sister of David Perkins, Mary Lunt 
and Henry Titcomb Page, when only four years of age, 
attended a private school, kept by Miss Martha Gerrish, 
in a dwelling house on High street, near the head of Fed- 
eral street, and at that early age learned to read words 
of one syllable and sing a few of the songs familiar to 
childhood. 

Two years later she was a pupil in one of the primary 
schools in the city of Albany, N. Y. After her return to 
Massachusetts she attended the Newbury high school for 
twelve or eighteen months, and completed her education 
in a private academy at Thetford, Vt. In the neighbor- 
ing town of Peacham, in that state, she taught a dis- 
trict school for six or eight months, and in 1857 returned 
with her mother, sister and brothers to Newburyport, 
where she lived in the old homestead, occupied with 
household cares and duties, until her marriage, in 1868. 

Young, sprightly and vivacious, she enjoyed society 
and enlivened the small social parties she attended with 
the bright scintillations of her wit. Walking, skating, 
coasting, sleigh riding and similar out-of-door sports were 
especially attractive to her in early life, and although ex- 


Io 


tremely sensitive to climatic changes, taking cold easily, 
she was always bright and cheerful under the most 
depressing circumstances, and seldom complained of ill 
health even when suffering severely from neuralgia: or a 
sudden and violent attack of nervous headache. Her 
step was elastic, her eye quick to see the absurdities and ~ 
follies of human life, and her ear to catch the point of an 
obscure remark or sparkling repartee. 

During the Civil war she frequently: visited her aunt, 
Mary Coffin Lunt, wife of Rev. Eleazar Thompson Fitch, 
professor of divinity in Yale college, and while in New 
Haven had the pleasure of meeting many of the men and 
women prominent in the social and intellectual life of that 
city. 

Reverend Doctor Fitch conducted morning and evening 
service and preached every Sunday in the college chapel 
for thirty-five years. Timothy Dwight, in his “ Memo- 
ries of Yale Life and Men,” wrote of him as follows :— 


He was certainly, in his mental gifts, one of the most 
remarkable men whom the College Faculty has ever had 
in the circle of its membership. He was a theologian, a 
metaphysician, a preacher, a poet and a musician. He 
also possessed rare mechanical skill, and was a lover of 
nature in no ordinary degree. Considered in the full 
measure and the variety of his powers, he had no supe- 
rior among the eminent scholars and teachers who were 
associated with him. 


Donald G. Mitchell (“Ike Marvel”), a graduate of 
Yale college, attended service in the chapel one Sunday, 
after an absence of several years, and on page two hun- 
dred and forty-three of «« Reveries of a Bachelor ” gives the 


II 


following description of Reverend Doctor Fitch’s sermon 
- on that occasion :— 


There was a pleasure, like the pleasure of dreaming 
about forgotten joys, in listening to the Doctor’s sermon. 
He began in the same _ half-embarrassed, half-awkward 
way, and fumbled at his Bible leaves and the poor pinched 
cushion as he did long before. But as he went on with 
his rusty and polemic vigor, the poetry within him would 
now and then warm his soul into a burst of fervid elo- 
quence, his face would glow, his hand tremble, and the 
cushion and the Bible leaves be all forgot, in the glow of 
his thought, until, with half a cough, and a pinch at the 
cushion, he fell back into his strong, but tread-mill 
argumentation. 


Mrs. Fitch usually attended service in the college 
chapel, but her niece occasionally occupied a seat in 
Trinity Church (New Haven), and soon became interest- 
ed in the Episcopal form of worship and in the Book of 
Common Prayer. After her return to Newburyport she 
was confirmed in St. Paul’s Church, June 15, 1862, by 
the Right-Reverend Bishop Eastburn, and from that date 
until her death was a sincere and devout communicant of 
that church. For many years she was a teacher in the 
Sunday school, and afterwards a member of St. Monica’s 
Chapter, of the Ladies’ Sewing Circle, of the Altar Guild 
and other societies organized to promote and strengthen 
the social and religious life of the parish. 

Invited to visit Roxbury, now a part of the city of 
Boston, she went there, with her mother, in November, 
1866, to assist in the care and management of five small 
children while their parents were in the south of France 
with a son who died in Mentone, a few months later, of 


12 


hemorrhage of the lungs. Devoting herself to the com- 
fort and happiness of these young children, she so im- 
pressed them with her kindness and sympathy, that days, 
weeks and months passed quickly by, leaving only 
pleasant recollections of the stories told for their enter- 
tainment and the games they had enjoyed together. The 
remembrance of these and other incidents of this prolonged 
visit was a constant source of pleasure and delight that 
neither the flight of time nor long separation could wholly 
obscure or even partially obliterate. 


In February, 1868, she became engaged, and, on the 
thirtieth day of June following, married John J. Currier 
of Newburyport, in St. Paul’s Church, Rev. John Crocker 
White officiating. After an enjoyable trip to Montreal, 
Quebec, Niagara Falls, Lake George, Lake Champlain 
and other places of interest, she returned to Newburyport 
and began housekeeping in the three-story brick dwelling 
house numbered two hundred and eight on High 
street, corner of Buck street, where she lived, quietly 
and happily, until October, 1871, when the Chick- 
ering house, numbered seventy-three on High street, was 
purchased. With her husband and mother, she occupied 
the old homestead, numbered fifty-three on High street, 
formerly owned by her father, David P. Page, while re- 
pairs were being made on the Chickering house, to which 
she removed October 1, 1872. 


Domestic in her tastes and habits, she became strongly 
attached to her new home and loved to walk in the gar- 
den that she had planned and planted with flowering 
shrubs and vines. When sweet peas and roses were in 


13 
bloom she sent great. bunches of them to friends who 
could appreciate and enjoy them, and gathered every 
day a bountiful supply of pansies or poppies for the 
decoration of her dining-room table. 


‘¢ She loved the spot, and every day 
She watched the roses grow, 
The scarlet poppies seemed so gay,— 
But that was long ago. 


‘* To-day, the flowers no one tends 
Are here because of her, 
A garden full of faithful friends, 
Without a gardener.”’ 


She was fond of traveling by land or water, and early 
in her married life made several short voyages in sailing 
ships, with occasional trips overland to places of interest 
in New England and elsewhere. 

In July, 1878, she sailed in the ship Victoria from 
Newburyport for St. John, N. B., with a party of friends, 
and, subsequently, in a spacious and well-equipped steam- 
boat went up the St. John river to Frederickton and thence 
by stage and railroad to Bangor, Camden and Bar Har- 
bor, returning by way of Rockland and Portland to 
Newburyport. 

In August, 1875, in company with her husband, Miss 
Ellen J. Poore, Capt. James H. Stanley and wife, Rev. 
George D. Johnson, Frederick 8. Moseley, Col. Edward 
O. Shepard and others she sailed in the ship Big Bonanza 
from Newburyport to New York, and on the way home 
stopped at Newport, R. I., to see something of the 
fashionable life at that famous summer resort. 

In October, 1876, she was in Philadelphia and im- 
proved the opportunity to visit the Centennial exhibition 


14 
and examine the beautiful specimens of pottery, tapestry, 
silverware and art furniture displayed there, devoting 
much time to the study of foreign laces, textile fabrics 
and Bohemian glass-ware. 


Her oldest brother, David Perkins Page, jr., died in 
January, 1874, and in February, 1878, she was deeply 
afflicted by the death of her mother. January 138, 1879 
her sister, Mary (Page) Coffin, died, leaving a husband, 
three sons and one daughter. 

After consultation with friends and relatives, Mrs. 
Currier decided to take two of her sister’s children— 
Susan Maria Coffin, born June 2, 1872, and David Page 
Coffin, born December 16, 1875,—to her own home, and 
give them the care and attention necessary to prepare 
them for the duties and responsibilities of life. To this 
work she devoted herself with unwearied love and affec- 
tion, watching over them when disease or danger threat- 
ened, and sharing with them as far as possible the joys 
and sorrows of childhood. 

With these children, her husband and a few personal 
friends, she sailed from Newburyport, in the ship Mary L. 
Cushing for Boston and thence for Philadelphia, in June, 
18838, and on her way home overland stopped for a brief 
visitin New York. The details and incidents of this jour- 
ney were recorded in her diary with a brief descriptive 
account of the places visited and the scenes that interested 
her, but are not of sufficient importance to be reproduced 
here. 

Although she wrote in this diary every day, for twenty- 
five or thirty years, a few lines relating to her own per- 
sonal affairs and household duties, she did not venture to 





15 
record her impressions of passing events or comment on 
the important or unimportant occurrences of her daily 
life. Occasionally, however, she gave expression to some 
thought, full of love and devotion, that could not easily be 
repressed. On the last day of December, in 1883, she 
wrote as follows :— 


I cannot realize that this is the last day of the year; 
that it closes my little diary which has in it so much of 
my own life and the lives of my friends. The year has 
been a peaceful and happy one, and I thought, when our 
rector said in his sermon yesterday, that no one, probably, 
would wish to live the year over again, that I would be 
willing to, for it has been a happy one to me. Of course, 
I have made mistakes and done many things I should not 
have done, but even with this experience I doubt if I 
should do any better, if allowed to hve the year over 
again. Ihave had many things to worry me, but one 
must expect them in this life, and if we do not look for 
them they will certainly come to harass and annoy us. 

I wish I could feel that I was better for the year’s ex- 
perience and had done more good for, and to, others. I 
am thankful that we have all been spared to the close of 
another year; that we have had no serious sickness and 
no misfortunes or disasters to trouble us. How grateful 
we ought to be for all these favors. 

God grant that in the coming year we may improve the 
opportunities we have wasted in the one just going and 
that we may try to lead better lives; be more patient, 
conciliatory and kind, and all—my dear husband, children 
and friends—hbe spared to record at the close of another 
year our grateful sense of the goodness of God to us all. 

May He give us strength for every duty, courage and 
endurance for every unseen trial and so bring us in peace 
at last to our eternal home. 


At this time Mrs. Currier was in good health, active, 
energetic and free to follow her own inclinations. She 


18 


unusual sights. On one occasion, a solemn and stately 
funeral procession attracted her attention, of which she 
gave the following description :— 


This evening (March 12, 1897) we noticed great 
crowds of people on the bridge just below our windows 
and could not imagine what it meant. The street on the 
other side of the Arno was also lined with people. After 
a while we learned that a funeral procession was expected 
to pass the house early in the evening. It was then late 
in the afternoon and after dark the crowds increased. I 
took our parlor lamp into an ante-room, and _ by-and-by 
out of the Via Bardi we saw numbers of twinkling lights, 
coming across the bridge. It was a perfectly lovely 
sight : there were four bands in attendance, all with lights, 
and the body was borne by the members of the Miseri- 
cordia who dress, as you know, in a long black robe cover- 
ing their heads, with only two slits for the eyes, so that 
it is almost impossible for their nearest friends to recognize 
them. The man who had died was an old composer of 
music, nearly ninety years of age, and the casket was loaded 
with flowers. We could see in the light of the torches a 
crown made entirely of violets, perfectly enormous, as all 
floral emblems are. Preceding the body was a large 
company of priests in their robes and last of all came the 
hearse, also loaded with flowers. The Misericordia were 
carrying the body to the church, as they always do when 
the deceased person is one of the brotherhood, and after 
mass there he was taken in the hearse to the cemetery. 
We were told that funerals here are always at night, 
which seems a strange custom, but you can have no idea 
how lovely the effect was coming over the bridge,—the 
torches reflected in the water, for every member of the four 
bands had torches, as well as the priests and the Miseri- 
cordia. We have seen many interesting sights here, but 
this was one of the most picturesque. In Rome, we saw 
many funerals, but they were in the day time. 





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9 
After driving, in the month of April, to Bellosguardo, 
a high hill in the outskirts of the city, to obtain an unob- 
structed view of the surrounding country, her love of 
nature found expression in a long and appreciative letter, 
from which the following brief extract is taken :— 


I have seldom enjoyed a drive so much: everything 
looks brilliant and spring-like now; flowers are every- 
where, roses, lilacs and wisteria hang over every wall and 
beautiful little Banksia roses, both white and yellow, are 
climbing everywhere. Their lovely graceful branches 
are covered with flowers and extend in every direction. 
I hope, sometime, I shall have a Banksia rose bush in my 
garden, it is such a sturdy climber and blossoms so freely. 
I have never seen these beautiful roses before, but I am 
told they can be grown almost anywhere in the United 
States. . . . I have been reminded today of the drives 
you and I have been accustomed to take early in June, 
when the apple trees are in bloom and the air fragrant 
with the perfume of flowers. The country here is charming 
and the view from the hill tops is magnificent, but I miss 
the scenes familiar to me from childhood and can truly 
say, “ Where’er I roam, whatever realms to see, my heart 


untravelled fondly turns to thee,’ my own dear native 
land. 


While in Florence she enjoyed meeting old friends who 
happened to be in that city during her stay there. Among 
them were Mr. and Mrs. Radcliff Lockwood of Bingham- 
ton, N. Y., then on their way to Constantinople and 
Egypt, Mrs. Augusta M. Tyler, widow of John E. Tyler 
of Boston, Miss Harriet Denny and Miss Mary Groom 
Denny of Brookline, Mass.,.Mrs. Harriet H. Walworth, 
sister of Dr. Francis A. Howe of Newburyport, with her 
niece Miss Howe, Mr. and Mrs. Francis H. Lee, with 
several friends and relatives, from Salem, Frederick S. 


20 


Moseley, esq., of Boston, who was on his way to Venice 
and Switzerland, and Dr. John M. Hills and wife of New 
York city, who were returning from a long and interesting 
trip up the Nile. 

Early in April, she went by way of Bologna to Venice, 
remaining there four or five weeks. On the twenty-eighth 
of that month elaborate exercises were held at the opening 
of the Italian exposition by the Prince and Princess of 
Naples, who were escorted down the Grand canal to the 
royal palace by a multitude of gondolas and gondoliers. 
Concerning this magnificent display and other beautiful 
sights that attracted her attention in Venice she wrote as 
follows:— 


I never dreamed that anything could be so lovely. The 
gondolas were decorated with flags of every nationality, in 
every variety of color, and the gondoliers, sometimes 
eight or ten in a boat, were dressed in pink, purple, green, 
orange and other bright colored costumes. I never saw, 
until today, such a gorgeous sight. 


There is no place in all the world like the Piazza San 
Marco. No picture can do it justice: all attempts at 
description fail. It must be seen to be appreciated. 


Chioggia is a small town on one of the islands near 
Venice. It has an unusually wide street, with a broad 
canal, crowded with fishing boats, whose sails are the 
most picturesque things you ever saw, bright red, pale 
yellow, deep orange and other brilliant colors. With the 
blue sky for a background they are exceedingly interesting 
and attractive. 


I was thinking this morning about the beautiful things 
and places I have seen. It is wonderful that so much 


- - eal « 
Se ee eee ee ee 





Xe ° 


ee eT eS ee ee 





21 


pleasure should have come to me. Venice stands out 
very prominently for beauty and loveliness: the little 
side canals are so attractive, and the gondolas so comfort- 
able and noiseless, with nothing to break the silence save 
the dipping of the oar as you glide along, or the warning 
ery of the gondolier as he turns a sharp angle in one of 
the narrow canals. It is a most picturesque place and 
unlike anything else in the world, I am sure. 


On the fifteenth of May, she was delighted to meet an 
old friend, Moorfield Storey, esq., of Boston, who, with 
his wife and family, were in Venice on their way to Switz- 
erland. With them she visited San Marco and other 
places of interest, and a few days later bade them “ good 
bye” as she was leaving for Milan, on her way to Lugano, 
Domolossolo, Brieg and Geneva, where she arrived on the 
fourth of June following, having enjoyed exceedingly the 
ride over the St. Gothard and Simplon passes. In a letter 
to a friend at home, she wrote :— 


I am thankful that I have had a favorable opportunity 
to go over these two wonderful mountain passes. The 
roads were so smooth and well graded that I did not real- 
ize that we had reached the limits of vegetation, where 
only a hardy kind of rhododendron was growing, until 
we began to descend and caught a glimpse, now and then, 
of the beautiful valley below. The scenery was magnifi- 
cent and I secured photographs of many of the beautiful 
places on the way. 


From Geneva, Mrs. Wheelwright and Mrs. Currier 
went to Aix les Bains, where they remained a week or 
ten days, making frequent excursions to the high hills in 
the vicinity in company with Mr. and Mrs. George W. 
Wheelwright, jr., of Glen Road, Jamaica Plain, who, by 


22 


the advice of a physician, were taking the sulphur waters 
and baths at that famous resort. 

Returning to Geneva, the beauty and abundance of the 
wild flowers growing in the fields and by the roadside 
attracted the attention of the travelers, and Mrs. Currier, 
in her diary, described them as follows :— 


There were two kinds of Scabiosa, or mourning bride, ’ 
of which I am so fond and take such pains to cultivate in 
my garden every summer, growing in profusion ; also 
sweet williams, white and yellow daisies, blue salvia and 
many other flowers that I had never seen before. 


The journey from Geneva to Fribourg, Berne, over the 
Wengern Alp to Grindlewald and thence to Interlaken 
and Lucerne, was exceedingly interesting and thoroughly 
enjoyed. 

On the fifteenth of July, with two friends, Miss Mary 
T. Wills of Newburyport and Mrs. Anna (Caldwell) 
Sargent of Newton, Mass., who had come to Lucerne a week 
previously, Mrs. Wheelwright and Mrs. Currier went to 
Strasburg, Heidelberg, Cologne, Amsterdam, The Hague, 
Antwerp and Brussells, arriving in Paris on the first day 
of August. There they remained for three or four weeks, 
busily engaged in seeing the sights of that fascinating 
city. The Bois de Boulogne, Versailles and Fontainebleau 
were unusually attractive at that season of the year, and 
friends, residing temporarily in Paris, accompanied them 
to these famous resorts. Edwin Sherrill Dodge of New- 
buryport, a student in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, was 
especially kind and polite to them during their stay in the 
city. 

Leaving Paris on the twenty-fifth of August, Mrs, 
Wheelwright and Mrs. Currier went to London, by way 





23 

of Calais and Dover, and two weeks later visited Oxford, 
Stratford-on-Avon, Kenilworth castle and Bath. The 
quaint old houses, the famous hot springs, the great 
pump-room, where the heroes and heroines, described by 
Jane Austen, were supposed to meet a century ago, de- 
tained them in the city of Bath until they were obliged 
to leave for Salisbury, on the fourteenth of September, in 
order to see the cathedral and attend morning service 
there the following day. 

The green, grassy lawn that surrounded the stately 
edifice, impressed them with its beauty and loveliness, 
while the cathedral spire, with the cloisters and chapter 
house adjoining, gave grace and dignity to the most mag- 
nificent specimen of church architecture they had seen in 
England. Within its walls they found many ancient 
monuments and elaborately carved stone pillars sustaining 
a vaulted roof that echoed and re-echoed with angelic 
music when the psalter and Te Deum were sung. 

A ride of eight or ten miles from Salisbury brought 
them to Stonehenge, where the Druids are supposed to 
have built a temple two thousand years ago. The ruins 
of this mysterious shrine, consisting of huge, gray stones, 
with a blackened grayish appearance, in the form of a 
circle, standing erect or lying prostrate on the barren, 
desolate, uninhabited, Salisbury plain, seemed to them ven- 
erable relics of an unknown form of worship established 
in the remote past. 

Returning from Stonehenge, they passed through the 
quaint old town of Amesbury, the prototype of its young- 
er namesake in Essex county, Massachusetts, visiting the 
ancient parish church and the picturesque market place, 
on the way to Salisbury, where they were detained two 


24 
or three days, making preparations for their homeward 
voyage. 

September 24, 1897, they sailed on the steamship Au- 
gusta Victoria from Southampton for Cherbourg, France, 
and thence, in the same vessel, for New York, where they 
arrived on the first day of October following. 


Although Mrs. Currier thoroughly enjoyed European 
travel and never ceased to speak in glowing terms of the 
places she had visited and the sights she had seen, it was, 
nevertheless, a pleasure for her to take up again, in her 
own home, the cares and duties of domestic life. House- 
keeping, sewing, reading, visiting the sick and the poor, 
receiving guests, attending social functions, superintend- 
ing the collection of funds in aid of the Anna Jaques 
Hospital or teaching in the Sunday school of St. Paul’s 
Church occupied her time so completely that only a 
few hours, now and then, could be devoted to rest and 
recreation. 


She was fond of simple games, but rarely attempted to 
play chess, saying it was too intricate and perplexing to 
be a pastime. Dominoes, backgammon and cribbage fre- 
quently entertained her for an idle half-hour, and during 
the last years of her life she became an enthusiastic 
whist player, devoting one afternoon a week, during 
the winter months, to the pleasure and excitement of that 
fascinating game. 

Although inheriting considerable musical ability, she 
depended upon others to interpret for her the songs and 
sonatas of the great composers, and only attempted, in the 
privacy of her own home, to play or sing familiar tunes 





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25 
and simple ballads for her own amusement or the enter- 
tainment of her friends. Vocal, as well as instrumental, - 
music, was always attractive to her, but not an absorbing 
passion, and she never acquired a thorough knowledge of 
the art. 

She was not a writer of books, but loved to read and 
re-read for the twentieth time, perhaps, historical works 
and biographical sketches that interested her. Quick to 
comprehend the thought expressed, she seemed to catch at 
a glance all that was of value in a book, and turned the 
leaves rapidly until it was finished and laid aside for the 
time being. Among novelists, Dickens, Thackeray, Jane 
Austen, Margaret Deland and Sarah Orne Jewett were 
her favorite authors, but biographies of famous men and 
women and the best magazines and reviews of the day 
were to her a constant source of pleasure and delight. 
With a retentive memory, she was able to repeat, without 
effort apparently, long poems that pleased her fancy, and 
often described, with wonderful accuracy, the humorous 
scenes and incidents that attracted her attention in the 
books she had read. 

When not otherwise occupied, her hands were busy 
sewing or mending. She was never idle, and exercised 
her skill in making over a spring hat for autumn wear or 
reconstructing and adapting an old gown to new uses. 
Embroidery also interested her and claimed much of her 
time and attention. Many beautiful specimens of her 
needle-work were sent, at Christmas time, to appreciative 
friends, or, in the shape of tidies, table covers or window 
curtains, used for the protection of household furniture 
or the decoration of the house in which she lived and 
other dainty articles. 


26 


An interesting letter writer, she enjoyed receiving and 
answering letters, and found time, in spite of other en- 
gagements, to maintain a lengthy correspondence with 
friends that she had known and loved for many years, but 
her writing desk was usually in disorder, for she had the 
habit of keeping old letters, bills, receipts and memoranda 
of various kinds in one huge pile, to be sorted out and 
arranged systematically on some leisure day that never 
came. 

Optimistic in temperament, she saw the bright side of 
things and was cheerful under the most discouraging cir- 
cumstances. When grief and sorrow came she could not 
avoid a feeling of sadness and at times gave expression to 
melancholy forebodings and depressing thoughts, but gen- 
erally looked forward, hopefully, to happier days and the 
enjoyment of an unclouded future. 

With strong likes and dislikes, she maintained a kindly 
interest in persons for whom she had but little sympathy, 
and was always courteous to those whose views and opin- 
ions were unacceptable or perhaps obnoxious to her. The 
distinguishing traits of her character were not rare when 
considered singly, but, in the opinion of many of her 
friends, the combination of them in the same person was 


unusual and gave life and vigor to a wonderfully unique 


personality. 

Kind, affectionate and sympathetic she made friends 
easily and enjoyed meeting and talking with them about 
ordinary affairs or the serious problems of domestic life. 
Her conversation, bright, sparkling and suggestive, was 
interspersed with interesting anecdotes gathered from the 
books she had read or incidents connected with places she 
had visited. 





: 


27 

She loved the common wild flowers and came home 
from a long ride or walk with great bunches of clover, 
buttercups and dandelions for the decoration of her dining- 
room table, and every summer found time to gather and 
enjoy big bouquets of wild roses, columbines, cardinal 
flowers, blue gentians and yellow goldenrod that grew in 
the woods and fields she frequented. 

Accustomed in early life, as well as later, to attend 
church services regularly she attached but little importance 
to the strict observance of Sunday and was extremely 
liberal in her interpretation of the dogmas and doctrines 
of the orthodox faith, and yet was religiously and devout- 
ly disposed, reading every night, in her chamber, before 
retiring, a scriptural lesson or penitential hymn, from the 
Book of Common Prayer or The Golden Treasury for the 
Children of God, that seemed to give her spiritual strength 
and vigor and turn her thoughts to holy things. 


With her the joy of living was a constant delight, and 
she was never quite reconciled to the idea of leaving her 
home on earth for a happier one in Paradise, but when 
the summons for her departure came she was not unpre- 
pared, for her faith in God was clear and strong and her 
hope of immortality undimmed by doubt or fear. 

Her step was elastic and her mind active, though it 
lost something of its brightness during the last years of 
her life. In September, 1908, she had a severe attack of 
acute indigestion, from which she recovered slowly, but 
during the following summer was able to attend to her 
household duties as usual, occasionally taking a long 
drive into the country or to the seashore when oppor- 
tunity offered. 


28 


A month or two later, her physician found a slight de- 
fect in the action of her heart, and advised her to limit 
her diet to easily-digested food and avoid vigorous or vio- 
lent exercise as much as possible. During the cool and 
invigorating weather of autumn she was comparatively 
comfortable and looked forward to a pleasant family 
gathering at Christmas, but taking a severe cold, a few 
days previously, she found herself unequal to the exertion, 
and was confined to her chamber, under the care of a 
trained nurse, until] Sunday, the ninth of January, when 
the sudden rupture of a blood vessel near the brain ren- 
dered her unconscious. [In this condition she remained 
until her death, January 11, 1910. 

She was much touched by the kind attentions of rela- 
tives and friends and the many expressions of sympathy 
that came to her in her last illness, and insisted on thank- 
ing, by word of mouth or by a brief note, all who sent 
her fruit or flowers. When too feeble to write or talk, 
her nurse was instructed to attend to this duty for her. 


During a long and uneventful life, little happened to 
her, at home or abroad, that might not have happened to 
any one of her friends, and nothing that she said or did 
makes the writing or the publication of this sketch neces- 
sary ; but those who knew her well and loved her will 
appreciate even an inadequate tribute of affection to her 
memory. 


The following extracts from letters written by sympa- 
thizing friends at the time of her decease justify to some 
extent the laudatory view of the life and character pre- 
sented in the preceding pages. 





29 

My memory of your dear wife extends back to child- 
hood, and during the long years that have passed since 
then I have no recollection of her that is not delightful ; 
she was so bright, so witty, so kind, so gracious, so full 
of the charm that comes from a thoroughly wholesome 
nature. . . 

These partings sadden our lives, and become more fre- 
quent as we grow older, but you have the satisfaction of 
knowing that her life was a happy one and that you and 
her other friends were spared the pain of seeing her 
suffer at the last, for her death must have been painless. 


I cannot think of her without feeling thankful that we 
have enjoyed her love for so many years and have been 
cheered by her helpful life and character. Her devotion 
to my dear mother strengthened my love for her, and I 
shall always associate one with the other in my heart of 
hearts. 


I remember the many cheerful and pleasant talks I have 
had with her in childhood and in recent years, and also 
the dear people and places with which her dear memory 
is associated. 


When my mother went with my brother Page to 
Europe, cousin Sue had charge of us, three small children, 
in Roxbury, and before that she was very often at our 
house and gave me my first lessons in French, I remem- 
Bakes". 

When we were older, we boys often went to Newbury- 
port and rambled over and about the old town. I re- 
member with pleasure the shipyard; the great vessels on 
the stocks, the busy ship carpenters, and the intelligent 
sea-captains that I occasionally met. . . 

But it is with our old home in Roxbury and my dear 
father and mother that I most associate cousin Sue. The 
old life there is so distant, but so vivid to me, that the 
present often seems an unreal distortion of it. The values 
were so fixed to us boys and the world so settled. 


30 


Much has gone with those who have left us and we 
have learned that change is inevitable; that beyond the 
horizon, where our loved ones have gone, must be the real 
life of the universe. A child’s view of the world is a 
forecast of that eternal country where there is no parting 
and no sorrow. 


Though far away I share in your sorrow, and though 
the time seems long since I was with you I look upon 
your house as one of the places I can call home. How 
much Mrs. Currier did to make it so you know full well. 
. . [ have so many remembrances of her, and all so sweet 
and gracious, I count it a blessed privilege to have 
known her and feel that my life is richer and stronger for 
that sweet “faith in womanhood ’”’ which she inspired. 
May every consolation be yours and strength sufficient for 
your every need. 


When I was a little girl I loved her and lived to love 
her more and more. .. I had not seen her for a good 
many years, but I felt always that next year I should find 
the happy day when I could be with her, or near her, at 
Newburyport. . . It was a blessing to be taken away 
before the weariness or suffering of illness had become a 
heavy burden. She had been sick a long time, but was 
always hopeful, and to me always young, looking cheer- 
fully to the gradual restoration of her health... . You must 
take great comfort in the knowledge that you added a full 
measure of happiness to her life. I do not believe you 
can realize what a blessing you and your brother David 
were to her. She loved you with a fond love as her own 
children and your mother’s too. . . 1 am _ white-haired 
now, but have no realization of my own age, and you 
must love me, and my sister Marianna, always for the sake 
of the love we had for your mother and your dear aunt 
Sue. 


There never was a stronger or warmer tie than the one 
that bound dear cousin Sue to our family and we always 





31 


felt sure of her love and affection. I am glad you have 
her name. It has been dear to us in many ways for four 
generations and is forever associated with those we have 
known and loved. 


Count me as a sincere sympathizer with youin your 
sorrow. Mrs. Currier was one of the most beautiful souls 
I ever knew. Our associations and memories, in common, 
reaching many years into the past, were the source of 
great enjoyment to me in Newburyport. Every thought 
of her gives me pleasure. Believe me, dear friend, she is 
not dead to those who knew her well. 


In my early childhood I was so much with cousin Sue 
that she seemed like a young step-mother to me. I wish 
my children could have known her as I know her, and 
have loved her as I loved her. 


I am thankful that I was able to be at your house 
last summer for several months. Sue and I were near 
to each other long before, but every year brought us 
closer together, and now I have so much to remember ; 
her lovely spirit, her sweet sunshiny nature, her heart so 
full of love, and her bright ways that kept as cheerful in 
the midst of anxiety. I often said to her, “ You have 
been faithful in every relation of life, thoughtful for 
others and forgetful of self.” We mourn her loss, but 
remember her with affection, and give thanks for the 
priceless legacy she has left to us all. 


Similar expressions of love and sympathy from other 
relatives and friends of Mrs. Currier might be added to 
the extracts printed above, but they are not needed to 
strengthen or corroborate the brief story of her life and 
character. 

Faithful, loving, loyal, steadfast in the faith and fruit- 
ful in good works, the poor and needy sought her aid and 
found in her a sympathizing friend. 





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GENEALOGICAL RECORD. 


Robert Page, son of Robert and Margaret Page of 
Ormsby, County of Norfolk, England, was born in 1604. 
When, with his wife Lucy, he was examined, April 11, 
1637, and granted permission to go to New England, 
with their three children, Francis, Margaret and Susanna, 
and two servants, William Moulton, aged twenty and 
Anne Wadd, aged fifteen, he was thirty-three and his wife 
thirty years old. He lived first in Salem, Mass., and 
probably remained there until 1639, when his wife was 
admitted to membership in the church in that town. 
Removing to Hampton, N. H., that year, he was granted 
ten acres of land on Meeting-house green, between the 
house lots of William Marston and Robert Marston. For 
nearly three centuries this land has remained in the posses- 
sion of his descendants. He was made a freeman of the 
colony of Massachusetts Bay May 18, 1642, and for six 
years was one of the selectmen of the town of Hampton 
and a deacon in the church there from 1660 to the day of 
his death. In May, 1657, and April, 1668, he was a deputy 
to the General Court and served on several important 
committees. His wife died November 12, 1665, at the 
age of fifty-eight; and he died September 22, 1679, aged 
seventy-five years. He left an estate valued at five 
hundred and seventy-nine pounds and four shillings,—an 
amount far in excess of the property in the possession of 
his friends and neighbors at that date. 

The will of Deacon Page, dated Sept. 9 and proved 
Nov. 29, 1679, is long and interesting. The original doc- 


35 


36 


ument is on file in the probate office at Salem, Mass., 

and is recorded in the old Norfolk Deeds, at Salem, 

volume III, page 26, and printed in the New Hampshire 

State Papers, volume XX XI, page 236. 

Children :— 

MARGARET, born in England about 1629; married, first, William 
Moulton of Hampton; and, second, John Sanborn Aneun 2, 
1671; died July 18, 1699. 

FRANcIs, born in England about 1633; married Meribah Smith; died 
November 15, 1706. 

REBEcOA, born about 163-; married Capt. William Marston October 
15, 1652; died May 27, 1673. 

SusANNA. She is not mentioned in her father’s will. 

THOMAS, born in Salem, Mass., in 1639; married Mary Hussey; died 
September 5, 1686. 

HANNAH, born in 1641; married Capt. Henry Dow June 17, 1659; 
died August 6, 1704. 

MARY, born about 1644; married Samuel Fogg December 28, 1665; 
died March 8, 1700. 


Thomas Page, son of Robert and Lucy Page, born in 
Salem, Mass., in 1639; married, in Hampton, N. H., 
February 2, 1664, Mary, daughter of Capt. Christopher 
Hussey , and lived on the homestead with his father. He 
died September 8, 1686. She was baptized in Newbury, 
Mass., April 2, 1638; and married, secondly, Hon. Henry 
Green March 10, 1691; and, thirdly, Capt. Henry Dow. 
She died January 21, 1733. 

Children :— 

Mary, born March 21, 1665; married Samuel Robie; died September 
5, 1750. 

ROBERT, born July 17, 1667; died July 25, 1686. 

CHRISTOPHER, born September 20, 1670; married Abigail Tilton 
November 14, 1689; died February 4, 1751. 

JOHN, born November 15, 1672; lived at Nantucket and Cape May. 

THEODATE, born July 8, 1675; died August 14, 1676. 

STEPHEN, born Aug. 14, 1677; married Mary Rawlings January 38, 
1701; died in February, 1714. 

BETHIA, born May 28, 1679; married John Swett. 





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Christopher Page, son of Thomas and Mary (Hus- 
sey) Page, born in Hampton, N. H., September 20, 1670 ; 
married, November 14, 1689, Abigail, daughter of Daniel 
and Mehitable (Sanborn) Tilton. She was born in Hamp- 
ton October 28, 1670. Mr. Page died February 4, 1751, 
at the age of eighty ; and she died October 4, 1759, aged 
eighty-eight. They lived in the house formerly owned by 
his grandfather, Robert Page. 

Children :— 

ROBERT, died September 8, 1690; died July 20, 1706. 

ABIGAIL, born February 1, 1693; married William Moulton Decem- 
ber 23, 1715; died January 22, 1776. 

Mary, born December 13, 1695; married Samuel Dow September 
12, 1717; died March 10, 1760. 

LypiA, born August 3, 1698; married John Towle November 15, 
1721; died May 22, 1772. 

JONATHAN, born December 25, 1700; married Mary Towle June 4, 
1724; died in 1770. 

DAvip, born November 1, 1703; married, first, Ruth Dearborn June 
27, 1728; and, second, Ruth Smith April 5, 1742; died June 
9, 1785. 

SHUBAEL, born February 15, 1707; married Hannah Dow January 
21, 1731; died May 16, 1791. 

JEREMIAH, born March 28, 1708; married Elizabeth Drake December 
17, 1730; died September 18, 1786. 

TABITHA, born August 21, 1711; married Caleb Marston October 5 
1740; died May 30, 1792. 


9 


David Page, son of Christopher and Abigail (Tilton) 
Page, born in Hampton, N. H., November 1, 1703; mar- 
ried, first, June 27, 1728, Ruth, daughter of Dea. 
John and Abigail (Batchelder) Dearborn ; and, second, 
April 5, 1742, Ruth, daughter of Capt. John Smith. He 
settled near his brother Jonathan on the Thomas Moore 
place, and afterward removed to Epping, N. H. He and 
his oldest son signed the first petition for the incorporation 
of that town in 1747. 

Children :— 

JOHN, born July 17, 1729. 


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